Margaret Mahy

Author profile

born

in Whakatane, New Zealand

March 21, 1936

died

July 23, 2012

gender

female

genre

Children's Books

About this author

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Margaret Mahy is a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.

Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance both received the Carnegie Medal of the British Library Association. She has written a little less than 50 novels, including the recent Alchemy in 2002. Among her children's books, A Lion in the Meadow and The Seven Chinese Brothers and The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate are considered national classics. Her novels have been translated into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Catalan and Afrikaa...more

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Margaret Mahy's Books

Average rating: 3.87 · 8,478 ratings · 1,010 reviews · 204 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Changeover 4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 avg rating — 1,525 ratings — published 1984 — 19 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy, Mou-Sien Tseng (Illustrations) 3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 446 ratings — published 1990 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tricksters 3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 383 ratings — published 1986 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy, Polly Dunbar (Illustrator) 4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 328 ratings — published 1992 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Haunting 3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 279 ratings — published 1982 — 13 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Maddigan's Fantasia 3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 avg rating — 298 ratings — published 2006 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Catalogue of the Universe by Margaret Mahy, Darren Hopes (Illustrator) 3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 234 ratings — published 1985 — 13 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Alchemy 3.4 of 5 stars 3.40 avg rating — 249 ratings — published 2003 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Lion In The Meadow 4.29 of 5 stars 4.29 avg rating — 123 ratings — published 1969 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Down the Back of the Chair by Margaret Mahy, Polly Dunbar (Illustrator) 4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 112 ratings — published 2006 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Margaret Mahy…

Interviews

December 2009, Margaret Mahy
" Quick Start SS: How would you describe your life in only 8 words? MM: Busy,tangled, full of guesswork,excited by ideas SS: What is your motto or maxim? MM: Every grain of sand is a mystery Get more on Margaret Mahy at SimonandSchuster.com..." ...More

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Quotes by Margaret Mahy

“It changes you for ever, but you are changing for ever anyway.”
― Margaret Mahy, The Changeover

tags: change, changing, growth

16 people liked it

“Reading is very creative - it's not just a passive thing. I write a story; it goes out into the world; somebody reads it and, by reading it, completes it.”
― Margaret Mahy

tags: reading, writing

13 people liked it

“I'm the Beast. You're the Beauty," he said. "It's all a story, isn't it?”
― Margaret Mahy, Maddigan's Fantasia

tags: garland, timon, timon-and-eden

9 people liked it

See all Margaret Mahy's quotes »

Polls

October Poll for Categroy Two: Horror/Halloween theme.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

37 votes, 42.0%

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

19 votes, 21.6%

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

16 votes, 18.2%

Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney

5 votes, 5.7%

Changeover A Supernatural Romance by Margaret Mahy

5 votes, 5.7%

The Devouring by Simon Holt

4 votes, 4.5%

The Owl Service Alan Garner

2 votes, 2.3%

88 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Children's Books: 2010 Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal-Winner Announced	7	23	Feb 04, 2010 03:04pm
Children's Books: * Children's Literature Awards - An International List	4	154	Feb 28, 2010 05:41pm
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Children's Books: Books to Read with my Little Sis	10	23	Aug 01, 2011 11:49am
Children's Books: Who Is Your Favourite Children's Author?	76	113	Feb 21, 2012 12:10pm

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